Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 61,152 Shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 694,493 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 61,152 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Citigroup were worth $48,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Core Alternative Capital raised its stake in shares of Citigroup by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Citigroup during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Webster Bank N. A. boosted its position in shares of Citigroup by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 71.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Citigroup Stock Performance

C opened at $83.94 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $158.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $76.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.23. Citigroup Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.51 and a 1 year high of $84.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.12. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 7.43%. The business had revenue of $19.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. Citigroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Citigroup Inc. will post 7.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Citigroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup’s payout ratio is 37.65%.

Citigroup declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 15th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 13.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

C has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Citigroup from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of Citigroup from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $110.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Citigroup from $104.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Citigroup from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Citigroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

Insider Activity at Citigroup

In related news, insider Sara Wechter sold 15,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.01, for a total value of $1,225,276.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 109,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,893,277.80. This trade represents a 12.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Mason sold 58,465 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.21, for a total transaction of $4,864,872.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 217,331 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,112.51. This trade represents a 21.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,590 shares of company stock valued at $8,523,149. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Citigroup Profile

Citigroup Inc, a diversified financial service holding company, provides various financial product and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions worldwide. It operates through five segments: Services, Markets, Banking, U.S. Personal Banking, and Wealth. The Services segment includes Treasury and Trade Solutions, which provides cash management, trade, and working capital solutions to multinational corporations, financial institutions, and public sector organizations; and Securities Services, such as cross-border support for clients, local market expertise, post-trade technologies, data solutions, and various securities services solutions.